Sunday, November 8, 2015

I'm so bad at this, but look...A POST! FROM JIM! *Faints from shock.* There, there. It's okay. You'll make it.

Why hasn't Jim posted, you might ask? Simple....I'm a writer, therefore I don't write. It's like being a construction worker and not finishing roads. Or an officer worker and leaving a pile of papers on your desk every day. Like being Tintin and never writing a news paper report but still calling himself a reporter.

But I'm writing now. And I plan to do a post every Sunday. So be impressed and in awe of me.

Because Jim has little to say?

Why? Because Jim is a Hobbit and has yet to have Dwarves roll into her house so she's not yet gone on an adventure.

And Jim also wants dinner.

Because food.

Normally I'd have something witty to say, but it's the middle of NaNo. NaNo saps all my wit and sucks it into my books. So while my characters sound clever I wave at people I pass at work and say things like, "Day is good."

In other words, don't ask me to over exert any extra brain power, because I have none left.

What I do have is a 50,000 word book I can proudly display. Or not so proudly until it is edited, because no one proudly shows off their unedited NaNo book. Unless they are the Emperor's New Groove movie. Unedited NaNo story at its finest.

Speaking of which, John, Sammy, and Clara want the computer so they can catch up their word count. So I have to go, but don't be afraid. Because I is back!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Ben here! I am hosting a Musical Blog Party on my Other BlogThis Blog has been open for Guest Posting!!! Our Guest today is a Miss Christine Eyre. Thank you so much for participating, Christine. I'll give you the stage now :-)

*Claps as Christine takes the spot-light.*

Day 2—A musical you
have a love/hate relationship with

Hoo boy. This was a small
challenge, because I tend to love a musical (The
Phantom of the Opera, Jane Eyre, A Tale of Two Cities)
or dislike it (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers [those just aren’t
my type]). Mixed feelings about musicals are rare.

But one musical does merit
this complicated emotion: The Music Man (1962
film). At first, I
fully disliked it, and
still dislike several aspects, but sometimes musicals just have to
grow on me. I’ll end with the reasons why I like it so as to
finish on a positive note.

Oh, and before I explain
what I dislike, please know that I’m not trying to offend anyone or
squash a favorite musical into poor, sad pulp. 

So here’s what I
dislike:

The worst turn-off in The
Music Man is the manipulation. Manipulation
drives me nuts, which is one reason I dislike many “comedy” TV
shows. Maybe the story wasn’t trying to justify
Harold Hill’s behavior, but some of his slick moves were played for
humor. I don’t understand this is supposed to be funny. It shows
a lack of logic on both sides, and a lack of integrity in the
character of Professor Hill.

The prime example of this
manipulation problem is the song “You’ve Got Trouble.” It’s
a catchy song, but not as fun as it is frustrating to me.

Hey, calm down and quit
throwing rotten oranges! (Tomatoes are boring.) What’s
frustrating is the number of logical fallacies in Professor Hill’s
“argument”. He creates a fear and then plays on it, a fallacy
called, naturally, “appeal to fear,” and one that uses fear of
what might happen as the only basis for doing something. Harold Hill
also calls the pool table a forerunner to corruption, which is the
“slippery slope” fallacy, one that assumes a chain of disastrous
events will follow X insignificant action. And Professor Hill’s
“signs of corruption” have nothing to do with the pool table.
This fallacy is called “after this; therefore, because of this,”
which assumes that because the kid had a nicotine stain on his index
finger after the pool
table came in, said pool table must have caused
an interest in cigarettes.

The underlying problem is
that Harold Hill doesn’t have an argument founded on facts and
reason. So he can only prophecy dire consequences of tolerating the
pool table—and the whole town buys the argument (or lack of it),
except Marian.

Speaking of Marian, I
dislike the ending of her character arc. In Act I, she is cautious
(though cold) toward Harold Hill, refusing his romantic overtures and
entertaining sensible skepticism toward his schemes. She stuck to
her standards for a future spouse, even when her mother pressures her
to consider Harold Hill as a suitor. Which is why it drives me nuts
when, in Act II, she drops all those standards and gets enamored with
Professor Hill even after she knew that he’d lied to the town.
I—I—I—what?!?! There went my respect for her, and it’s
incredibly frustrating to lose respect for any story character.

But the musical did grow
on me, and I came to like several aspects. The music is catchy, for
one thing, and some of the songs are fun, such as “76 Trombones,”
“Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You? “and “Marian the Librarian”.

In fact, “Marian the
Librarian,” is my favorite song—it’s fun, the choreography is
cool, and I totally relate to her annoyance with the interrupted
library work. 
And though Marian changes in the second act, I really liked her
character in the first act: she was sensible, hardworking, tried to
encourage intelligence and open minds, and put up with gossip and
scorn.

Also, some parts of the
musical were hilarious without requiring manipulation for laughs—such
as, the mayor getting his words mixed up (“Not one poop out of you
madam!”) and the Independence Day exercises in the school
gymnasium. And the ladies doing upright posture exercises when their
“dance” required them to bend over!

Speaking of dancing, The
Music Man has some amazing choreography. The
dancers made it all look so easy. “Madame Librarian” had some
fun dancing in it, but “76 Trombones” probably has the best.

And I liked the end of
Harold Hill’s character arc: he (spoilers!) comes clean, confesses
that he’d been misleading the town, and explains the truth to the
kid who looked up to him. Professor Hill also led the band as he’d
promised to do.

So, The
Music Man. Definitely a love-hate
relationship, but it grew on me to the point that if a sibling puts
it on, I’ll probably sit down and watch it.

That's all for now folks. Share your thoughts in the comments! Thank you again, Christine, for blogging. Hope to see you again!

Jim didn't like
answering the phone. She glanced up from her book and quickly scanned
the room. She hoped to see Ben, and hoped to talk Ben into answering
it.

Ring, ring.

Jim wouldn't say she
was particularly scared of answering the phone. She didn't have a
phobia against it, but something close enough to pass.

RING, RING

She just didn't like to
talk to people when she couldn't see them face to face.

RING, RING

Really didn't like it.

RIIIIIIIIIIING,
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!

At all.

RING!
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then again, sometimes
the phone refused to be understanding.

Closing her book, which
she'd been thoroughly enjoying, Jim left her sprawled out position on
the couch and picked up the phone's ear piece. She then spoke into
the mouth piece, for obvious reasons.

“Hello. Jim
Hillenbrand.”

Silence, followed by a
whispered convention, then, “You're a girl.”

Jim leaned against the
wall beside the mounted phone. “I am,” she agreed.

“Are you aware of the
fact your name is Jim?”

She'd had to explain
this more than once and had gotten rather good at it. “Yes. My
mother's name was Alice and my father's was Gerry. His father's name
was Bill and my mother's mother's name was Sue. And I'm Jim.”

Another pause. Another
round of a whispered convention. “Makes sense. So, listen, it says
in the yellow pages that you and your cousin Ben are the last living
relatives of your uncle, is that true?”

Jim tugged on one of
her braids. “It says all of that in the yellow pages?”

“I have the updated
version. Is it true?”

Jim nodded, then
remembered one couldn't be seen through phones. Which was really
rather sad. With space travel happening, and teleports and flying
ships and phonographs small enough to fit in your pocket one would
think they would have invented phones you could see through by this
point in time.

Oh well, what do I
know? I'm an Author, not an inventor.

Jim: Who are
you? (She asked this of a middle aged man who wore a brightly plaid
vest and had a pen stuck behind his ear. He had just suddenly
appeared and he looked up in sudden surprise because, another obvious
moment, he wasn't used to being addressed like this.)

Random person who
has yet to introduce himself: Oh dear, I've gone and told myself
into the story again, haven't I?

Jim: Story?
And you didn't answer my question.

Random Person who
now gets his title in capital letters: Sorry, you're right. I
haven't. See, I'm the Narrator of this story. It is my job to sit on
the other end of the story and type down everything that happens in
the Plot.

Jim: The
Plot. That sounds rather exciting.

Narrator: (In
other words ME): Oh it is, the Plot is the best thing that can ever
happen in a story.

Jim: What is
Plot?

POOF!

The man with the vest
vanished in a puffy cloud of white smoke. Jim blinked and realized
the person on the phone was still talking.

“Are you there? Are
you listening to me? Hello! HELLO! I am not used to being ignored.”

“Sorry.” Jim tugged
on her braid. “I thought I saw a Narrator.”

“What's a Narrator?”

Jim shrugged and
completely forgot about Narrators. “Who are you?” she asked the
person on the other end of the phone.

“Sir Isaac.” There
was a puffy Breath of Importance. Not the same as a puffy cloud of
white smoke, but close enough.

“Who now?”

The puffy Breath of
Importance deflated. “Sir...Isaac...”

Jim had a prickly
feeling that the man expected her to know his name. She felt bad and
blamed it on a thing called LACK OF LUNCH.

“I don't think I know
you.”

She tried to let him
down gently. Instead he crashed and had his ego injured, which hurts
no matter what you are told otherwise.

“I'm a famous
pirate.”

Jim squealed. “Really?!
I've never met a famous pirate before!”

Nothing fixes a injured
ego like a moment of flattery. “Well, we do tend to keep to
ourselves. When we meet up I will sign your shoe if you like.”

Jim looked down and
realized she was barefoot. “Meet up?” she asked.

Sir Isaac turned stern,
which is not at all like turning a pancake over to let the other side
cook.

“What?!” Jim gasped
and squeaked and slapped a hand over her mouth and one over her
heart. Because that is the proper reaction for when your uncle has
been kidnapped by a famous pirate you've never heard of.

When she freed one
hand, the one from her heart, she picked up the phone's ear piece.
“But...but...”

“TONIGHT!”

Jim tried to be brave.
“I don't think it would be good to meet on your ship. You might
kidnap Ben and I.”

“It is Ben and me.
Where do you want to meet?”

Jim thought. “Our
house?”

“NO! You might
capture myself and my pirates! By the way, see how much nicer that
sounds?”

In spite of her worry
Jim had to admit the pirate had a nice form of expressing himself and
placing his words.

“How about a random
place then?”

“How do we pick it?”

“Put a map on the
floor and throw a knife and where it lands is where we will met,”
Jim decided.

Of course this was
done, along with someone shouting about his toes and Sir Isaac's bad
throwing skills, and then the location was given. But since it wasn't
exactly nearby Sir Isaac said she and Ben could have more than one
day to get there. They set the date for two days from the day they
talked and then they hung up.

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A small peak at Us

Ben is an actress who tries to be a writer too. She is homeschooled and loves cookies, especially if they're homemade. She feels at home on a stage but not on a piano.

Jim is a writer, and a fabulous one at that. She is currently writing a what she hopes to be a masterpiece and she sells her books on her other blog: However Improbable. It is a fun place, so check it out